A Black and White Picture Book
by Frost's Reverie
Summary: Once upon a time, two princesses were visited regularly by a being of legend. However, everything changes on a day which Anna simply cannot remember. Elsa desperately wants to tell Anna why they never saw Jack after that day - yet would doing so unleash other things Elsa has turned her back on? Jelsa.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

"Elsa! Does Jack want some more tea?" Words blurted from a blazen-cheeked girl's lips as she took little, skittering steps to slow herself down on the wooden surface without falling with a bump to the floor. It was only through years of sheer practice that she had mastered the art of being able to scamper around the castle without attaining various bruises; and even then, she realised, as her feet skidded out from underneath her, her method wasn't completely fool-proof. Her bottom hit the floor first – but it wasn't the state of her spine that concerned her; moreso was the fact that she had been holding a plastic teacup full of water at the time. She didn't even want to look up in time; she knew the inevitable outcome and waited for the flush of freezing water to hit her full on in the face. The impact, however, never came. Smiling to herself, Anna opened her eyes and looked up, feeling the twist of her lips interact with her own power of warmth and happiness when she drank in the sight of the frozen splashes of water framing her head – the arch creating a hair-band shape that rested gently on top of her hair. She directed her sparkling eyes straight ahead at her sister – and not just her sister, at the entity next to her, the pair both with a spread hand reaching out towards Anna. The girl sprung to her feet, removing the strange ice crown from her head.

"Here you go!" she said cheerfully to the pair, holding the crown out to them. Elsa initially gave both her sister and Jack the look which unmistakably presented a problem; however, Jack simply smiled and broke the crown into thirds, giving one side to Anna, one to Elsa and keeping the last one for himself.

"The ice will never melt," he said, "I made it so that it will last forever – as long as you keep believing in me, that is."

Elsa opened her mouth to speak, but Anna cut in before she had a chance. "Of course, Mr Jack sir!" she barked, "Of course we'll always believe in you! Isn't that right, Elsa?" Elsa's mouth slowly closed, before she nodded. With a twinge of fear, Anna realised there was something almost resigned about the gesture.

However, if Jack had never come to visit them just a few days after Elsa's powers had first manifested, life around here would definitely be dull, Anna decided. She wasn't sure what exactly he was – but ever since Elsa's powers had manifested, the pair had both been very much aware of him sliding up and down the slanted roofs of the castle, drawing pictures within the pearly frosted glass of their icing covered, birthday cake palace, leaving behind trails of glitter that embedded itself within the snow as of it was of a velvet substance and the glitter were sequins sewn in. Indeed, when they had first called out to him, the boy had given a mighty start – he explained to them it was because he was the spirit who brought about winter, and that nobody else could see him unless they believed in his presence. Don't be silly, Anna had said, it's Elsa who makes the snow happen! To that day, Anna would always remember how Elsa stiffened beside her whenever Anna singled her out to Jack; she stiffened even more when Anna made her demonstrate her powers in front of the strange boy; and again when Jack ruffled her hair and promised to visit every winter and show her cool new tricks.

It was on the day that would always be shrouded from Anna's memory by the same cloudly substance that Jack drew shapes in whenever it placed itself against the windowpane that things changed. She wasn't sure what happened, but after that day, Jack never came back. When she asked Elsa about him – when she actually did see Elsa, that was – the older girl would cock her head and ask her who Jack was. At first, Anna thought her sister was merely playing a joke on her, trying to wind her up – yet when she ran outside next winter and called to Jack, eyes scanning the familiar whiteness, there was no sign of him.

"I didn't imagine him!" Anna cried out defiantly when her father came to collect her from underneath the nearby tree, "He's real! Elsa believes in him too! She's just playing!"

"Sweetheart, you have to understand," said the King, "Jack Frost is just a fairy story – snow falls because it has always fallen. Nobody can control it – not you, not Elsa, nobody."

As Anna's vision was blinded, she felt her belief in Jack Frost shatter forever.

These secrets, Elsa knew, embodied Anna's childhood; by giving her sister the answers she had once searched so desperately for, she would unlock the old Anna all over again. Yet did she want to? How would it affect Anna to find out about such secrets and lies? Elsa watched as her sigh crystalised before her, floating away onto the winter breeze. A winter-drenched Arandelle lay before her like an open black and white picture book. Even at the crack of dawn, people were up and working. How they did it, she would never know, but always appreciate. Closing her eyes, she thought back to her own perspective on that day, the day when Jack Frost had tried to make her promise to never stop believing in him. So many secrets. So many lies. Unconsciously, she reached up to touch her new crown, custom-made after she'd thrown the old one away after her powers had been let go and displayed to the world. A clear jewel sat nestled within the frozen tendrils of gold that perched on her forehead – no, it wasn't a jewel. Elsa smiled, remembering that familiar touch – and it was this that made up her mind. No matter how many secrets, how many lies, Anna deserved to know. No matter how nervous she was about seeing him again, she was doing it for the sake of her sister. Closing her eyes, she whispered into the icy breeze.

"Jack, come back."

* * *

_Welcome to my first fanfiction in a very long time ^_^ Will Jack return to Elsa? What exactly happened on the day that Anna can't remember - and more specifically, what happened between Elsa and Jack? _

_Frost's Reverie x_


	2. Jack Was Here

**Chapter 1 - Jack Was Here**

Alaska was a pretty rad place, Jack decided to himself, as he scanned the horizon. Not just because of the almost all-year-round snow that kept him busy, but just because of the people themselves. They just _dealt _with snow – not like the boring older people from warmer areas whose faces would fall when they saw what Jack had spent all night creating. No, here in Alaska, when snow came, faces remained neutral, gestures devoid from that familiar closed stance that adults used to show that they were angry. Even though neutrality wasn't exactly the nicest reaction Jack could have hoped for, it was better than the usual. The only other place where people reacted this way was-

No. He didn't think of that place anymore.

Jack took off from the top of the church steeple he had been perched on, his familiar cane in one hand. Baby snowflakes were still scattered among the great North breeze that took him away from the ocean, and up towards the mainland. Catching one of the small fragments of ice on his tongue, Jack folded his legs beneath him in midair and stared up at the silky clouds. There was definitely enough juice left in them for another few inches of snow. Perhaps he would go and help a few more children build snowmen; or take a sweep across the more temperate parts of the US, guaranteeing snow days for all the children whose schools just weren't prepared enough for his unexpected, frost-ridden footsteps. That was the thing when you were a guardian – aside from the usual duties of keeping children happy during the winter or kicking evil Pitch butt, there wasn't an awful lot to do. Of course, this could be interpreted in two ways, Jack thought to himself, as he stretched himself out into a swan-dive position towards the ground, allowing his wind powers to succumb to the inevitable gravity. Either you could see it as been eternally free, or you could see it as being eternally burdened by freedom. "Does that even make sense?" he whispered, feeling each syllable of the spoken words escape from his mouth into little flurries of snow, decorating the land around him as he swept towards the ground. Maybe it did. Sometimes Jack's thoughts tended to circulate around themselves like a cat getting caught up in Christmas tinsel – things becoming so complex that he couldn't think his way into a solution. This, he decided, was probably one of those times. There was nothing to do but wait for his thoughts to untangle themselves; meanwhile, there was work to do.

A thatched roof coated in untouched white snow was far too tempting for Jack. Grinning to himself, he crouched on top, before taking one mischievous finger and writing 'JACK WAS HERE' in great capital letters across the roof. The finishing touch, of course, was a snow angel right next to his tag line; achieving the right imprint on a slanted roof was for only those on expert level of snow angel making. He stood back, grinning to admire his handiwork and secretly hoping that there wasn't some other poor kid called Jack in the neighbourhood. As if reading his thoughts, a small gasp came from behind him. Spinning around on the spot, the deity drank in the sights of a huddle of young kids all standing there, staring in both wonder and amazement at the house. As if on autopilot, they all turned to face the one kid who was, unfortunately, standing in the middle.

"How did you get up there, Jack?" said one girl, as the rest exploded into applause at the boy's supposed-bravery. Human Jack melted from pure fear into warm expectancy and ease as he realised that this worked superbly to his advantage. Jack Frost smiled down at the group of kids, trying to ignore the disappointment that was welling up inside of him. After the deal with Pitch, he'd grown so used to meeting so many children that believed in him that it was hard to re-adjust to meeting children in more remote areas who had no idea who he was, let alone couldn't see him.

And even if they could, what was to stop them from getting angry at Jack and not believing in him, like she had?

Jack shook his head, as if moving it with enough vigour would cause the bitter memories to become flung out of his very consciousness. Why had he been thinking so much about that one particular experience so much recently? Why was it haunting him after so long? It wasn't worth thinking about – she had made up her mind, and so had he. Painting a grin on his face, he stretched out and grabbed some snow from another nearby roof, shaping it into a snowball. The children were all still facing a rather smug looking Jack: the perfect diversion. Pirouetting in midair, Jack sent the snowball straight into the group of children – and just like that, the game was on. For hours, Jack was able to repress the memories again, ducking and diving and weaving behind makeshift snow walls that the children created as the game grew that little bit more strategic (as games always did). However, as the once-milky sky began to succumb to the giant navy ink-stain it had successfully covered up all day, the children began to filter back to their homes one by one. Soon enough, only Jack the human and one of his other friends were left, and so they decided to call the game quits and left too – they didn't mean to leave Jack Frost by himself of course. That was the problem of only being visible to a select audience, Jack realised sadly, his playful smile beginning to fold at the edges with sadness as he watched the other Jack and his friend slink off home. There'd always be another day though – another chance to find someone who believed in him, and maybe hang out or something. Trying to resume the strength of his previous smile, Jack darted back up into the air, heading towards the nearby clump of trees that had been his refuge for the last few weeks or so. With his head against the tree, and the boughs rocking slowly in the cool winter breeze, Jack felt himself too begin to drift not physically, this time, but spiritually away from Alaska, into the world of dreams.

"_Jack, come back."_

A familiar city lay before him like a black and white picture book.

"_Jack, please."_

Jack awoke with a start. He blinked a few flurries of snow away from his eyes; he must have imagined it, surely.

"_Jack, I need you. Come back."_

In seconds he was on his feet, cane gripped tightly in one hand.

"Pitch, this isn't funny," he said warningly into the darkness, "come out and show your face, you big coward."

"_Jack." _No, it couldn't be Pitch, Jack realised, as the voice brushed past him again on a small breeze. She was using the powers they shared; it had to be her. For a moment, he completely forgot the reality of the situation – like a child waking from a strange dream, he was halfway towards stepping off the branch and taking the next wind East back to Arendelle. But then, just as all children have to lose those innocent dreams eventually, he remembered. There was no way he'd come crawling back to her. He turned to reach inside the knot of the tree that was etched into the trunk. Within, he stored a map, amongst a few other important possessions and souvenirs that he had gathered on his travels – but it was the map that was important now. He unfurled it – yes, there it was. Around Denmark, a giant red ring. The boundary he'd set himself after being banished from that land. To go there now... well, he wouldn't give her that satisfaction. Slowly, he felt his thoughts becoming tangled, like angry tinsel. Dammit Elsa. She was already exercising her power over him. He shook his head, dispelling his thoughts. He hated the control she had. Hated it.

_'And if she's in trouble?' _his mind whispered.

"I don't care," he whispered back into the wind. It was her own fault; he refused to play the part of the prince, dashing in to save her now. But if he let her die or worse because of his own selfish feelings, how would that make him feel? Something kept him rooted to the branch – as if his (and her) powers were keeping him frozen there, tormenting him. On the horizon, the sun was beginning to rise, spilling naiive golden light onto his surroundings. He squinted against the sun; the snow looked reflective, yellow, in the early morning light. There was colour here. Not like in Arendelle, where everything was spread out like a black and white picture book. And who preferred black and white over actual living and breathing colour?

And what if he was just imagining it? What if he got all the way to Arendelle and found that Elsa didn't want him there after all? Would she be as frozen as she was on the last day he'd seen her?

"_Jack." _His name was easily just a whisper on the breeze; easy to ignore. Jack stood finally – not out of necessity; not out of anything else but sheer contempt. Regardless of whether she actually was calling him there or not, he'd make her see how, not only had she just stopped believing in him, she'd made every inch of him feel like he didn't want to exist anymore.

He stepped off the branch, catching the next wind Eastwards to take him to Arendelle. And the anger burned and burned inside of him, threatening to melt away the one connection that had kept them unconditionally connected.

* * *

_So what will happen when Jack reaches Arendelle? Will he be convinced by Elsa's need for forgiveness? Can the pair ever be friends again?_

_Hope this was okay and feel free to drop a review if you can!_

_Frost's Reverie x _


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